Weather protected vertical motors



Jan. 16, 1962 F o. LUENBERGER 3,017,526

WEATHER PROTECTED VERTICAL MOTORS Filed April 4, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 16, 1962 F. O. LUENBERGER Filed April 4, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 "5: l l I I1 i INVENTOR.

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United States Patent 3,017,526 WEATHER PROTECTED VERTICAL MOTORS Frederick 0. Luenberger, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to US. Electrical Motors, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Apr. 4, 1958, Ser. No. 726,533 6 Claims. (Cl. 310-60) This invention relates to vertical motors, and especially to such motors that are exposed to weather.

It is one of the objects of this invention to improve in general apparatus of this charatcer.

It is another object of this invention to make it possible to pass cooling air into the motor casing, while yet ensuring that rain or other foreign matter will be excluded.

In such motors it has been common to provide a cover or hood above the motor proper to shield the motor. The lower edge of the hood defined an annular air passage with the motor casing, so that cooling air could be drawn into the motor casing and passed downwardly through the motor parts. Such structures, while serving effectively to provide ventilation, do not adequately prevent the entry of moisture through the annular passage.

It is accordingly another object of this invention to provide a supplementary structure associated with the hood or cover, to form a tortuous path for the entry of the air. Such 'a tortuous path does not appreciably deter the flow of air into the casing, and yet moisture or rain is prevented from entry.

In general, the structure defining the tortuous path can be utilized with apparatus other than electrical motors, to prevent ingress of rain.

This invention possesses many other advantages, and has other objects which may be made more clearly apparent from a consideration of one embodiment of the invention. For this purpose, there is shown a form in the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the present specification. This form will now be described in detail, illustrating the general principles of the invention; but it is to be understood that this detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of this invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary elevation of an electric motor incorporating the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, taken along a plane corresponding to line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section of the motor illustrated in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 3 a vertical hollow shaft 1 is shown as carrying a rotor 2 of an induction motor. This rotor 2 may cooperate with a stator 3 having windings 4.

The rotor 2 may be of the conventional squirrel cage type, having an end ring 5 provided with ventilating fan blades or vanes 6.

The stator structure 3 is shown as mounted in a cylindrical casing 7. The hollow shaft 1 is in driving relation with a center shaft 8, as by the aid of a lower coupling member 9 and an upper coupling member 10. The coupling members are connected as by screws 10a. The lower coupling member 9 is keyed to the hollow shaft 1 and the upper coupling member 10 is similarly keyed to the upper end of the shaft 8. The shaft 8 is intended to drive a pump structure in a well. Since such drives, powered by vertical electric motors, are well-known, further description is unnecessary.

The coupling member 9 carries the inner races of one or more ball bearing structures 11. The outer races are carried by a hub 12 formed integrally with an annular support 13 and vertical flange 14. The hub 12 is joined 3,017,526 Patented Jan. 16, 1962 ice to the support 13 and flange 14 by the aid of the webs 15 (see also FIG. 2).

The hub 12 carries an upright sleeve member 16 which defines a lubricant well in which the ball bearing structures 11 are accommodated.

In FIG. 2 additional ribs 17 and 18 are indicated, forming with a wall 18a, a space 19 for the reception of an oil indicator or gauge 20 (FIG. 1).

The flange 14 (FIG. 3) is formed integrally with a tubular extension 21 of casing 7, and having a lower end telescoping in the casing and attached to the casing by the aid of a plurality of bolts 22. The annular member 13 serves to support the base portion 23 of a cover or hood. This base portion 23 is in turn bolted to the upper canopy 24 as by the aid of one or more machine screws 25. These machine screws 25 threadedly engage bosses 26 formed integrally with the lower base 23. This lower base 23 is attached to the member 13 by the aid of the machine screws 27, passing through the inwardly directed flange 23a.

An annular air inlet structure 28 is disposed between the lower edge of the base 23 and a shoulder 29 formed at the upper edge of the tubular extension 21. This annular structure 28 is thus confined by the lower edge of the member 23.

Member 28 consists of a bottom wall or ring 30 and a spaced upper wall 31. As shown most clearly in FIG. 2, connecting these two walls are a series of vertical vanes or wall structures, each having walls 32 and 33 at an acute angle with respect to each other. The series of vanes are symmetrically disposed around the space defined by the walls 30 and 31; corresponding walls 32 are substantially uniformly spaced, as well as the corresponding walls 33. In this way, tortuous passageways are defined from the exterior to the interior of the casing structure. This is indicated by arrows 50 in FIG. 2.

Walls 30 and 31 are interrupted to provide access to the diametrically opposite lifting hook structures 34 and 35, as well as for access to the lubricant device 20. Bolts 36, passing through flanges 37 integral with the walls 31 and 32, serve to attach the annular ring structure 3031 to the boss 38 formed integrally with the vanes or ribs 17 and 18.

Radial rib extensions 39 (FIG. 2) are also formed to provide edge surfaces contacting the ribs 40 which define the interruption in the annular structure 30-31 for the lifting hook structures 34-35. Another rib 39a engages the inner surfaces of the walls 30-31.

Ribs 40 have lateral extensions 40a defining end surfaces between walls 30, 31. They are also provided with reentrant ribs 4% to form initial air passages similar to these defined by the spaced walls 32, 33.

The annular structure 30-31 is spaced substantially above the fan blades 6. They also extend substantially below the top edge of the flange 14 as indicated most clearly in FIG. 3.

The entering air makes substantially a right angle turn (as indicated by arrows 50 of FIG. 2) before it can pass from the exterior of the motor casing to the interior. The flow of air past the walls 32, 33 is horizontal. Within the motor casing, the air takes another right angle turn upwardly to pass over the edge of the flange 14. Thence the air stream makes substantially a downward turn, and is propelled by the aid of the vanes or fan blades 6 downwardly through the ventilating openings provided at the bottom of the motor.

Due to the provisions of a tortuous air passage, both vertical and horizontal, there is assurance that rains can be excluded from the interior of the motor.

The inventor claims:

1. In a vertical electric motor having a casing and a cover above the casing, the lower edge of the cover de- 3 fining with the casing, an annular opening: means coperating with the opening, having walls defining a plurality of angled horizontal air passages communicating with the interior of the casing.

2. In a vertical electric motor having a casing and a cover above the casing, the lower edge of the cover defining with the casing, an annular opening: an annular structure cooperating with the annular opening, having vertical walls defining tortuous air ingress passages to the motor in a horizontal direction.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2, in which each of the vertical walls is V.-shaped to change the direction of the air flow from the exterior to the interior of the casing.

4. In a vertical electric motor: a casing for the motor; a cover above the casing; said casing having an annular wall extending upwardly beyond the lower edge of the cover and defining an annular air path with the cover to the interior of the casing; and means cooperating with said air path and having walls defining a plurality of angled air passages in series with the air path, and leading to the annular space below the top of the annular wall.

5. In a vertical electric motor: a casing for the motor;

' annular wall.

a cover above the casing; said casing having an annular wall extending upwardly beyond the lower edge of the cover and defining an annular air path with the cover to the interior of the casing; and an annular structure beneath the lower edge of the cover, having vertical walls 6. In a vertical electric motor: a casing for the motor; a cover for the casing, and having a lower edge defining with the top of the casing an annular opening extending substantially entirely around the casing; said casing having an annular wall spaced inwardly of the opening and extending substantially above the upper edge of the opening, whereby air entering said opening passes first upwardly beyond the edge of the wall and then downwardly into the casing; an annular structure surrounding said opening, and having spaced vertical walls defining horizontal tortuous air passages past the opening; said annular structure including projections overlying the edges of the opening; and means for fastening the projections to the casing and to the cover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,703,944 Machette Mar. 5, 1929 1,721,280 Peineke July 16, 1929 1,858,261 Barnholdt May 17, 1932 1,920,315 Myers Aug. 1, 1933 1,945,833 Swanson Feb. 6, 1934 2,011,856 Harrison Aug. 20, 1935 2,767,904 Doyle Oct. 23, 1956 

